


Blister In The Sun

by ramsay_baggins



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Campfire, M/M, beach, blister in the sun, cocktails, purple sparkly mankini, smores
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:15:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24322651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ramsay_baggins/pseuds/ramsay_baggins
Summary: Tony takes the team away for a little R&R on the beach.Phase 1 set in the alt timeline.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	Blister In The Sun

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Cat and thenewdarling for beta-ing :)

“I hope you’ve all brought sunscreen!” Tony called back from the pilot's seat in the Quinjet. He’d told the rest of the team to get ready for a beach trip, he knew they all needed some chill time after the clusterfuck in New York. Not to mention he needed a break after his arc reactor shorting out on him and Loki escaping with the tesseract. They’d spent months so far helping with the cleanup efforts starting the moment they’d finished eating that shawarma. Yes, time to relax.

“I don’t need it,” Steve replied, “Super serum and all that.”

Tony swivelled the chair around and fixed him with a glare, “Super serum or not, you will be wearing sunscreen. I don’t care if you don’t burn, you still have to be safe. Not to mention the sun is super aging and you’re pushing 100. Gotta protect those good looks,” he winked.

“Fine, I’ll wear it,” Steve gave him a suggestive smile, “If you put it on me.”

“Deal,” Tony replies, turning back to the front of the Quinjet.

“Gross,” Clint called out. “Get a room you two.”

  
  


The Quinjet landed on a beautiful sandy beach on a small island, the sky was cloudless and blue and the water was crystal clear. There was a small hut a little way up the shore with a bar, some sun loungers and umbrellas and a volleyball net set up.

“Where did that come from?” asked Clint as they all unboarded.

“Organised it myself,” replied Tony. “Couldn’t have a beach day without a bar and some traditional beach holiday joy!”

“I will definitely beat you at volleyball,” Natasha said, raising an eyebrow at Clint.

“Oh yeah? I don’t think so.”

“Don’t forget your sunscreen!” Tony called after them as they ran off towards the net.

Thor and Bruce were heading in the direction of the water, Thor probably trying to persuade Bruce for the millionth time to let him train with the Hulk.

“Can I get you a drink?” Tony said to Steve, holding out a hand and trying to look suave over the top of his sunglasses.

“Sure,” came the reply, as Steve took hold of his hand.

Tony’s heart skipped a beat, it was still all so new it felt surreal. He couldn’t even really remember how it happened but somehow he was dating Steve Rogers and everything was lightning when their eyes met or their hands touched.

  
  
  


….Tony?”

Steve could feel the thick, cool liquid flowing onto his back. He raised himself onto one elbow and looked around. A steady stream of sunscreen was flowing out of the bottle onto him, Tony looking down towards the sea.

“Tony, are you ok?” Steve followed Tony’s eyeline “....oh.”

There was a thud as the volleyball landed in the sand next to Natasha. She pulled the sunglasses down to the tip of her nose and looked over the top, involuntarily biting her bottom lip. Clint followed where she was looking before letting out an annoyed huff, “Hey that was a gag gift, he wasn’t supposed to look  _ good _ !”

Thor had stripped down to his swimsuit and was stretching in the sun, the light showing off his perfectly sculpted muscles. He was wearing a sparkly purple mankini.

“Now that,” said Tony. “Is unfair.”

“Clint told me this is all the fashion here on Midgard,” Thor beamed. “Though I must say it does seem a little strange.”

He twanged one of the straps and Tony whimpered.

“Hey,” Steve smiled and brought Tony’s gaze back to him. “I’m still here you know.”

Tony grinned, “Of course, but come on, the man’s a literal god. No harm in appreciating.”

“Well, one harm. How are you going to deal with the entire mountain of sunscreen you’ve poured on me?”

“Oops,” Tony said playfully, “guess I’ll just have to make sure it’s all worked in.”

  
  
  
  


Natasha had been working on her beautiful complex sandcastle for over an hour. It was a masterpiece of smooth sculpted sand - towers of different heights and levels, arches, she’d even brought flags with her. Clint was sitting on the other side looking at all the details, talking about something she wasn’t really listening to.

Bruce was sitting back on a sunlounger under a parasol with a book open in one hand and an ice-cream cone triple stacked with slowly melting and dripping ice cream scoops. He was bringing the cone to his mouth without looking away from the page and was slowly, absent-mindedly covering himself in splatters of the melting ice cream. He was so entranced by his book that he didn’t see the small flock of seagulls who had started to quietly gather near him until it was too late. One lunged, followed by the others, and before he knew it the ice cream was in the sand and he was being hounded off the lounger and away from his book by the pestering birds.

“Uh-oh,” Clint muttered, starting to get up as the mass of birds with Bruce in the middle got closer.

“Hey hey,” Tony started instantly, jumping up from the towel he and Steve were occupying, hands out. “You’re looking a bit green around the edges there, it’s ok, we’ve got plenty more ice cream.”

Bruce let out a strangled roar of frustration.

“Code green!” Clint yelped as he stumbled backwards and ran straight through the sandcastle towards the sea.

The seagulls dispersed and Bruce took some deep breaths, “I’m fine,” he panted. “It’s ok, it’s fine.”

The others all relaxed except for Natasha, turning to take off after Clint who was already stripping off his t-shirt and shorts to reveal swimming trunks as he ran into the water. Nat peeled off her own layers down to an athletic swimsuit and jumped after him.

“This is worse than being chased by the Hulk!” Clint shouted, laughing as she tackled him into a wave and they emerged splashing.

  
  
  
  


The team sat around the bar on stools sipping their cocktails or placing their orders. Bruce was a few sips into his Pina Colada, Steve was enjoying a Tequila Sunrise and Tony had ordered a virgin Strawberry Daiquiri due to being the designated pilot.

“An Electric Lemonade for thunderpants here,” said Clint, ordering for Thor who was absolutely refusing to put on a shirt.

“I’ll have a Long Island Iced Tea,” ordering for himself.

“And she’ll have a White Russian,” he nodded his head in Natasha’s direction.

“Firstly, that joke got stale the first time you ordered me one, and secondly, milk on the beach?” she turned to the bartender herself, “I’ll have a Sex On The Beach please.” She looked at the others and shrugged. “What can I say? I’m basic.”

The rest of the team almost simultaneously held their hands up and smiled.

“We didn’t say anything,” Tony replied playfully defensively.

“You didn’t have to,” she said knowingly, picking up her drink and leaning back against the bar taking a long sip from her straw.

“No judgement from me,” Steve said as he tucked a tiny umbrella behind Tony’s ear. “Why anyone cares what other people enjoy beats me.”

“This is a fine beverage,” Thor said, having drained his glass, “I would like another!”

  
  
  
  


Tony treaded water beside Steve, catching his breath after they’d swam out past the breaking waves. It was always more effort to get past them than he remembered, but it was worth it to get some time properly alone with each other. It was nice having everyone living together in the tower but with the combination of Clint crawling through the vents, Nat being a super spy, Thor having the subtlety of a brick through a window and Bruce often sharing his lab it was almost impossible to get time together that wasn’t work related.

“I hope you’re enjoying today, I thought everyone needed some shore leave,” Tony cocked an eyebrow at Steve.

“That,” he replied smiling, “was a terrible pun. But yes, I’m having a lovely day.”

Tony put a hand up to his chest and looked hurt, “Terrible? I thought you were supposed to laugh at all my jokes! That’s what boyfriend’s do!”

Steve laughed, “Eh, that’s not  _ all _ boyfriends do.”

He snaked his hand round Tony’s waist and pulled him close for a kiss.

“That’s good,” Tony said as they broke apart, “I’d be disappointed if it was.”

They kissed again, time seeming to stretch out into one long moment of bliss.

“Friends!”

Steve and Tony pulled apart quickly, jumping as they were caught completely off guard. Thor was lying on a surfboard beaming at them, still wearing the sparkly purple mankini.

“You are far out from the beach so Clint sent me to check you were ok. Are you in difficulty?”

“Of course it was Clint,” said Tony under his breath.

“We’re fine,” replied Steve. “We’re ok out here by ourselves.”

“I did think so,” Thor replied. “But Clint insisted I checked on you. I am glad I was correct!”

Thor paddled off, catching a wave as he went and effortlessly standing up on his board as he went.

They watched him for a moment as he disappeared towards the beach.

“Of course he surfs,” said Tony.

Steve wound his hand round Tony’s waist again and pulled him in, “Anyway,” he said, “Where were we?”

They kissed.

  
  
  


“Oh come on guys, can one of you please dig me out?” Clint was a head in the sand as the team melted marshmallows over the fire and held down the occasional smore for him to eat.

“It’s revenge for the sandcastle,” Natasha replied. “A little longer I think.”

Clint sighed.

The low acoustic guitar music from the bar drifted over them all, as the sunset lit the sky in oranges and pinks. Tony laid his head on Steve’s shoulder and held the stick with the marshmallows over the flames. Thor had thankfully put on some shorts and an open hawaiian shirt and was tilting a beer bottle down to Clint who was, admittedly, spilling most of it down his chin.

“This has been a most excellent day,” he remarked in his happy Asgardian accent.

“Yeah,” Bruce said lazily.

Tony smiled, “Well, don’t ever say I don’t do anything nice for you all.”

“Pffft,” replied Natasha playfully. “We all know you were using this as an opportunity to get some alone time with lover boy there.”

Tony pressed a hand to his chest, “Well I, for one, am offended. Besides, if I wanted a secret getaway with Steve I just ...wouldn’t have invited you all.” He shrugged.

“Good point,” Clint said.

“Is it such an odd thought that I might just enjoy your company?” Tony laughed.

“Well you did move us all into the tower so I guess you must like spending time with us,” Bruce said, his words slow and tired.

“Are we gonna have a feelings talk?” Clint asked. “Because I am not drunk enough for a feelings talk. Unlike some of you I haven’t been getting through cocktails because, ya know, I’m _ buried _ .”

Steve gave a small chuckle, “If we are gonna do a feelings talk I just want to say thank you to you all. It’s not exactly been easy adjusting to the future but you’re all pretty awesome and it’s nice to have some friends.”

A chorus of glasses were raised in his direction.

Tony gave him a soft kiss on the cheek before standing up, “Right, I am definitely not drunk enough for a feelings talk. We can do this another day when I’m not sober. Let’s do something else, how about truth or dare?”

  
  
  


It was dark as they all sleepily piled onto the Quinjet. Tony smiled and slicked back his salt crusted hair, taking up his place in the pilots seat. Steve sat beside him with a lazy grin on his face.

“Thanks for that,” he said. “I think we all really needed a break.”

“Well, I did at least and I couldn’t just leave you all back in the tower to break my stuff,” Tony replied.

“Hey, we’ve not broken… that much… stuff,” Steve looked bashful.

Tony laughed. “It’s ok, it’s good beta testing. If my stuff can’t survive you guys then it won’t last out in the real world either.”

He reached over to brush some dried sand from Steve’s forehead. “We should do this more often.”

“OW!” came a shout from the back of the Quinjet, Tony and Steve quickly spinning around.

“I’m sorry, I did not mean to hurt you!” Thor was apologising to Clint who was stood shoulders hunched and eyes screwed shut.

“I think,” he winced, “That I might have a little sunburn on my back there.”

Tony frowned, “What did I say? I warned you all about sunscreen! Reminded you multiple times! It’s your own damn fault.”

“Shut up, Stark,” came the reply.

Tony reached into the bag beside him and tossed over a tube of something green, “Use this.”

“You really prepare for everything, huh?” Clint said as he spread the aloe across the parts of his back he could reach, Natasha helping where he needed it.

“We definitely needed this,” sighed Steve as he started to nod off.

Tony smiled again as they flew off into the sunset.


End file.
